A privacy group called it “excessive, intrusive, and creepy worker surveillance.”
Amazon was reported to be planning to use AI-equipped cameras to monitor delivery drivers on their routes last year. According to The Telegraph, the company has begun installing such cameras on its vans in the United Kingdom. Privacy advocates have expressed concern about the action, calling it “excessive” and “creepy.”
Amazon will use two cameras to capture footage from inside vans and on the road. They’re intended to detect traffic violations or poor driving habits and issue an audio alert, all while collecting data that Amazon can later use to evaluate drivers.
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They don’t allow drivers to be monitored in real time and won’t capture sound, but can supposedly upload footage to a dedicated safety team in certain circumstances. Some of the actions monitored include illegal road behavior like failure to stop or speeding, along with actions like hard braking or seatbelt violations.
A privacy group called Big Brother Watch said the system is “excessive, intrusive and creepy worker surveillance” and called for it to be paused. “This kind of directed surveillance could actually risk distracting drivers, let alone demoralizing them,” director Silkie Carlo told The Telegraph. “It is bad for workers’ rights and awful for privacy in our country.”
The GMB union that represents Amazon workers said the cameras inside the cabins aren’t necessary and create a major distraction. “We are against cameras being pointed in the face of the drivers every second of every day that they are working. This is surveillance, it does not aid driver safety,” a spokesperson said.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson told The Telegraph that “the purpose of introducing this technology is to keep drivers and communities safe, there is no other reason behind that. We have carried out a comprehensive data privacy assessment in line with applicable laws.”
